CITY TRASH AUDIT GIVES CLEAN BILL IMPROVING RECORDS URGED.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - An audit of Santa Clarita's trash franchise has discovered no wrongdoing on the part of the city staff or the local waste haulers, according to city officials.

However, the auditors from Ernst & Young are expected to recommend that officials keep more detailed records about the amount of trash sent to area landfills from Santa Clarita to better track how much waste the city is diverting through recycling, Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy said.

``They've been extremely thorough and have found nothing startling,'' said Darcy, who is planning to retire from the City Council in April. ``The mistakes were no one person's fault.''

The audit was ordered by the City Council to make sure the residents of Santa Clarita were not being overcharged by the local haulers and to determine whether the city staff negotiated the best deal possible.

``There was some careless paperwork, and the thoroughness wasn't there that should have been,'' Darcy said. ``That will be corrected.''

The auditors are expected to give the council a formal report on the audit at the Feb. 12 council meeting, Councilman Cameron Smyth said. He would not discuss the ongoing audit.

County officials and representatives of the California Integrated Waste Management Board say the problems are part of statewide trouble in tracking trash receptacles to landfills.

``We projected these problems several years ago,'' said Michael Mohajer, the environmental programs manager for the county's Department of Public Works. ``No one is surprised because no matter how much money you spend and how well the haulers and the landfill operators do their jobs, the system will have limitations.''

The audit, which has cost the city $100,000, was ordered after Councilwoman Laurene Weste, mayor at the time, spearheaded an effort to terminate City Manager George Caravalho after allegations of mismanagement surfaced during a political battle over the city's lucrative trash contracts.

None of those allegations was proven to be true, Darcy said.

A city study found that just 33 percent of Santa Clarita's trash was recycled during the past year because of a number of reporting errors at Chiquita Canyon Landfill and by Santa Clarita/Blue Barrel Disposal Co. Nearly 70,000 tons of trash from unincorporated Los Angeles County was mistakenly tagged as coming from the city.

While Santa Clarita is one of many cities throughout California to fail to meet a state mandate to reduce waste by 50 percent over the last 10 years, officials believe the recycling rate will approach 50 percent once further studies are completed next month.

The council members have already endorsed a more active role for the city in verifying the amount of trash recycled by residents and businesses.

Blue Barrel General Manager Karl McCarthy said new procedures and a series of checks and balances will ensure the mistakes are not repeated.

After the audit is completed, the council members will then decide whether to execute the franchise agreement the council voted 4-1 to approve. Weste cast the lone dissenting vote.